


In the Garden Grows

by PunkInPinkGlitter



Series: Prompts [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, College AU, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Modern AU, cause I can't do anything else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 09:17:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17701610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunkInPinkGlitter/pseuds/PunkInPinkGlitter
Summary: Pidge loves Lance, but is convinced he doesn't love her.  So she gets Hanahaki.





	In the Garden Grows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Val_Creative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/gifts).



> Hey Rie, I was your pinch hitter for the Pidge Secret Santa (I hope I got that right). I'm sorry it took so long to get to you.

Pidge watched as Lance shot finger guns and a blinding smile at a pair of freshmen that were walking past them.  She huffed and walked away; he obviously wasn’t listening to their conversation anymore. She made it all the way to their class door before he caught up, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath.

“Why’d you leave?” he gasped.

“You were busy.”

“I’m never too busy for you, Pidge.”

Pidge’s heart clenched.  She knew he’d never say that if he knew what it meant to her.  Pidge was hopelessly head over heels for Lance, but he’d never know.  He was always flirting with everyone else around him to notice.

Pidge felt a prickle in the back of her throat like something got caught in it.  She tried to cough away the feeling, but it didn’t move.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just breathed wrong.  Come on. Let’s get to class.”

 

A week later, Pidge was sitting on the grass doing her due diligence in trying to figure out that one  _ stupid _ calculus problem.  The tickle in her throat never entirely left since the last incident.  In fact, whenever she was near Lance, it seemed to make everything worse.

She dropped her pencil and leaned back on her elbows, surveying the campus grounds.  Keith was showing off his motorcycle to some fellow mechanics; Hunk was nearby helping a group of fellow engineering students with making a study guide; Lance… well, Lance was surrounded by people as he told another extravagant, probably over-embellished story.

She looked away quickly when he happened to meet her eyes.  His eyes shined and his smile broadened as he excused himself from the group.

“Hey, short stuff.  Whatchya studying?”

“Calculus.  I can’t get this problem to work.”  She kneed her book towards Lance, who crouched down to take a look.  She watched as his long fingers wrapped around her notebook and his eyes looked over the question.

“You did see you made a plus into a minus in the third line, right?”

Her eyes flew wide.  Surely it couldn’t be that simple!  She took her notebook out of his outstretched hand and reviewed her problem.  

Pidge started re-writing the problem, being careful to not make the same mistake twice.  She cheered, finally finishing the problem and hugged Lance. He hugged back and the prickle in her throat started burning again, the pressure too much as she began to cough.  She reared back and grabbed a napkin to cover her mouth as the fit worsened.

Lance was immediately at her side, rubbing her back.  “Shit, are you okay?”

She waved him off, hoping that the coughing would get better if he wasn’t so close.  “‘M fine,” she croaked as he backed off a little. She coughed again, luckily bringing something up this time with it.  The fit ended as she wiped her mouth with the napkin. She put it away, noting to look at it later when Lance wasn’t around.  She didn’t want to gross him out, but she wanted to make sure it wasn’t pieces of lung she just hacked up. She looked up to see concern in his blue eyes, relentlessly staring at her.

“I’m fine, Lance, I promise.  Just probably a cold starting up.”

He nodded quietly.  “Is there anything I can help you with other than the calculus problem?”

Pidge shook her head as she started to put all of her books and things away.  “I’m good. I’ve gotta go, I’ll talk to you later?” She got up and rushed away, not even waiting for Lance’s response.

When she was far enough away, she took out the napkin and stopped in her tracks.  A blue petal speckled with blood laid crushed in the napkin. Tears welled up in her eyes.  

Hanahaki.

She was going to die.

 

For two more weeks, Pidge did everything she could to avoid Lance, but she never seemed to be free from him.  He found her when she hid in the library, cuddling up next to her with a book until he passed out as she worked.  When she started eating in a different cafeteria, he found her and ate with her. He seemed to always find her, and each time he did, she ended up leaving and vomiting up petals.

This day was different though.  Matt had invited Lance over for a study session.  They were laying around the dorm room making jokes when Pidge came in, intent on getting a nap since Matt’s bed was more comfortable than hers.  The moment Pidge’s eyes met with Lance’s, a smile split across his face and she was overcome with the need to cough again.

She quickly ran to the bathroom, knowing what was about to happen.  Huddled over the toilet, she coughed and hacked until the blockage came up.  She opened her eyes to see a fully bloomed blue daisy floating in blood-tinged water.

“Holy shit,” a whisper came from behind her.

Pidge whipped around, seeing Matt standing behind her.  In her haste to get to the bathroom, she had forgotten to close the door fully, and he had come to check on her.

“Katie, what- is that a flower?”

She glanced back at the flower and stifled a sob.

“You have Hanahaki,” he said plainly.  He fell to his knees as she started to cry in earnest, leaning against his shoulder.  When she finally started to regain her composure, he asked “Who?”

She sniffled.  “Lance.”

“Honey, you have to tell him.  He’s crazy about you!”

“He’s not!  He flirts with everything that breathes, you know that.  I’m nothing special.”

He gently sat her up, holding her by her shoulders.  “Katie, you have to. I don’t want you to die. The worst he can say is he doesn’t feel the same way- which he won’t- and you get the surgery to fix this.”

“But then I’d forget him,” she whispered.  “I don’t want to forget him.”

“Please.   _ Please _ trust me on this.  Go talk to him?”

Pidge looked up into amber eyes and nodded.  “Okay. Can, can you come with me? I don’t think I can do this alone.”

“Of course I will.”

She got up, flushed the flower, and went to rinse out her mouth; thankfully Matt had some mouthwash that she could use. 

They went back to the dorm room and Matt pushed her forward towards Lance.

“That sounded pretty bad, are you okay Pidge?” asked Lance, worry filling his face again.

“Yeah, I’m fi-” she was cut off by Matt clearing her throat.  She sighed and started again. “Um, no. I’m actually not fine.  I… Lance I… Matt, I can’t.”

“You can,” he urged.

“Can’t what?” Lance grabbed Pidge’s hands and sat her on the couch.  “Please, talk to me.”

Pidge took as deep a breath as she could.  “I have Hanahaki, Lance.”

Lance’s eyes widened as his eyebrows shot up.  “Hana- Pidge, what- no. Fuck. I’ll help however I can.  Who is it?”

Her eyes brimmed with tears again.  She tried to speak but squeaked instead.  Lance turned his head like a puppy and she tried again.  She managed, “You.”

They sat there, neither moving for several moments before Lance surged forward, kissing Pidge firmly.

He pulled back slightly, pressing their foreheads together.  “I love you too, Katie. I always have.”

“But, the flirting?”

“Because I thought I couldn't have you.  Because you were unattainable to me-so far out of my league.  I didn’t want to try and ruin our friendship.”

Pidge hiccupped, trying to breathe again.

“You love me?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Lance.”

“Great!” yelled Matt from behind them.  “My sister’s not gonna die and now she’s dating one of my best friends!  I’m actually not mad at this.” He plopped down on the couch in between them, slinging his arms around their shoulders.  “Pizza? On me, since this is a joyous occasion.”

“Sure, sounds great,”  Pidge said as she leaned forward to look at Lance, a dopey smile on her face.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed this. You can find me at:  
> [My Tumblr](http://punkinpinkglitter.tumblr.com/)  
> [My Twitter](http://twitter.com/PunkInGlitter/)  
> [My Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/PunkInPinkGlitter)


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